Men regard the secondary causes, and do not distinguish between them and the actualities. But to the saints it has been revealed that secondary causes are no more than a veil, so that men do not see and recognise the Creator. Thus, someone speaks from behind a curtain. People suppose that it is the curtain speaking, not realising that the curtain has nothing to do with it, and is a veil. When the man emerges from the curtain it is made known that the curtain was a pretext. God's saints see beyond the causes the actualities as they are discharged and eventuate. Thus, a camel came forth from a mountain; Moses' staff became a serpent; out of the hard rock twelve fountains flowed. Muhammad, God's blessings be upon him, without any instrument, by a mere sign split the moon asunder. Adam, upon whom be peace, came into existence without mother and father; Jesus, without a father. For Abraham, upon whom be peace, out of the fiery furnace roses and a rose-bower sprang up; and so on and so on.
-- Discourses of Rumi, translated by A. J. Arberry